Ghost Walk has Civil War theme (video)

October 13, 2012

The 25th annual Ghost Walk began as crowds took a walking tour of the capital of the Historic Western Reserve - from First Presbyterian Church to Pioneer Cemetery and several points in between along Mahoning Avenue N.W.

Sam Argeras and his wife, Terri, have gone for 20 straight years and they continued the tradition Friday with their family.

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He said the walk is the perfect family event; they begin with dinner at the Sunrise Inn and grab a bite to eat at the Mocha House afterward.

''The stories are wonderful,'' Sam Argeras said.

''It's just very, very enjoyable,'' Terri Argeras added.

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Spencer Nottingham, portraying Civil War soldier Charles Frease, reads of Frease’s exploits as a soldier. Frease is one of the featured stories told on the Ghost Walk in Warren.

Mark Klinger of the Fine Arts Council said a lot of effort went in to making the characters for this year's event fresher, and they even added some new characters.

''All of them have been have been retouched and refinished in some way,'' Klinger said.

One of the new characters was Charles Frease, a soldier in the Civil War who served in Trumbull County. Portrayed by Spencer Nottingham, Frease regaled listeners in front of the Civil War monument downtown about his exploits as a soldier in several major battles and the emotional toll it took on him.

Frease - who is buried in Pioneer Cemetery along Mahoning Avenue - was selected because his tombstone lists his cause of death as ''whisky.''

''I had to look into it,'' Ghost Walk Director Mark Klinger said earlier this week. ''I figured there had to be a story behind it."

Also being portrayed were suffragettes Susan B. Anthony and Harriet Taylor Upton along with Pheob and Levi Sutliff, who helped run a stop on the famed Underground Railroad.

First-timer Ola Morris, of Youngstown, was on hand with her children and grandchildren. They learned about the event online and asked her to take them.

Her daughter, Stephanie Gutekunst, said the event appealed to her because of the history and scary costumes. She said she wants to play one of the historic characters someday.

''I like being scary,'' Gutekunst said. ''I think it would be awesome to be able to act as an historical character.''

Tabatha Elder was the daughter who found the ad and knew she had to go.